John Frederick Wentz Jr was born ca 1761 in Upper Salford Twp, Montgomery Co PA, son of Johan Frederick Sr and Anna Margaretha (Miller/Mueller) Wentz. This writer does not believe he is the John Frederick Wentz who died in Tyrone Township, Frederick [now Carroll] Co MD, on 27 Sep 1824.[1]

John Frederick, sometimes called John and sometimes Frederick, married ca 1781 a woman named Anna Maria Magdalena. Nothing is known about her ancestry.

John Frederick was married and listed as a blacksmith at the time of the settlement of this father’s estate: in a deed of Norristown, Montgomery Co PA, Volume 2, page 34, dated 2 May 1783, Frederick Wentz, of Upper Salford Twp, blacksmith, and his wife, Mary, is listed as a son of Frederick Wentz, deceased, late of Upper Salford… re: land to John Derr.

The same John and Elizabeth (Wentz) Derr served as sponsors at the baptism of John Frederick Jr’s oldest known sons, Jacob and John, thus linking the Montgomery Co origins and the York Co residence of this individual.

In February, 1798, Frederick and Maria Magdalena Wentz were baptismal sponsors for John Frederick’s nephew, Valentine Wentz, the son of Valentine and Catharine Wentz.

He was possibly in York Co PA in 1820 with his wife and an unmarried son: Hanover Twp, York Co PA: Frederick Wentz, 000011/00001. Based on these censuses, this couple probably had two daughters before 1790, with three more daughters between 1790 and 1800; daughter Lydia was born in May 1801, and possibly another son before 1810. Baptismal records for seven of the ten or eleven children have been located, four sons and three daughters. Evidence identifying at least three children is still missing, and one of these is likely my Catherine.[2]

The identification of this man as Catherine (Wentz?) Eyster’s father was made by Donna (Rickrode) Yake and is based on baptismal records and other facts. She lives in this area of PA and has searched extensively for Catherine’s ancestry.[3]

The Wentz Family Genealogy Forum at genforum has this message #231: “The children I have listed for Johann Frederick Wentz Jr are Jacob (1784-1869); John (1786-1870); Frederick (1788-1857); Maria Magdalena (b. 1792); John Phillip (b. 1796); Susanna (b. 1798), married Jacob Stonesifer; and Lydia (b. 1801). I have more information on Jacob, John and Frederick, and full birth and death dates.”

Including these proven children, John Frederick and Anna Maria Magdalena had the following family:

I & ii. (two daughters) WENTZ. Born before 1790.

iii. Jacob WENTZ. Born on 1 Nov 1784. Jacob died on 2 Jun 1869. Christened in St Bartholomew’s, W. Manheim Twp, York Co PA. Jacob married Mary SHERHERTZ. Born on 8 Jun 1787. Mary died on 23 Nov 1851. They had the following children:

i. John Wentz (1807-1869)

ii. Philip Wentz (1812-1891)

iii. Benjamin Wentz (1815-1897)

iv. Lydia Wentz (1817-)

v. Mary Wentz (1820-)

vi. Jacob Wentz (1824-1899)

iv. John WENTZ. John was born in 1786 and died in 1870. Christened in Emanuel Reformed Church, Hanover, York Co PA. John first married Elizabeth SHEELY, daughter of Nicholas SHEELY & Elizabeth REIFF. Born ca 1797 in York Co [now Adams Co] PA. Elizabeth died before May 1823. They had the following children:

i. Henrietta Wentz (1813-1899)

ii. Anna Maria Wentz (1815-1892)

iii. Philip Wentz (1818-)

iv. Jacob Wentz (1820-)

v. William Wentz (1823-)

About 1823 when John was 37, he second married Mary –?–., and they had the following children:

i. Peter Wentz (1825-1874)

ii. Abraham Wentz (1827-1906)

iii. Henry Wentz (1830-)

iv. Susan Wentz (1834-1872)

v. Frederick WENTZ Jr. Born on 4 Jan 1788. Christened in Emanuel Reformed Church, Hanover, York Co PA. Frederick died in 1857. On 15 Mar 1814, he married Elizabeth VOGEL. Born in 1794. Although the 1830 census suggests more children, it is known they had these following children:

viii. John Philip WENTZ. Born on 22 Oct 1796. Christened in St Matthew’s Church, York Co PA. He died 28 Oct 1874, in Seneca Co OH. He married Elizabeth SOHN, who was born 23 Feb 1802. Their children were:

ix. Susannah WENTZ. Born on 22 Nov 1798. Christened in St Matthew’s Church, York Co PA. She died 24 Oct 1831. Susannah married Jacob STONESIFER. Born on 9 Aug 1787. Jacob died on 19 Aug 1850. They were probably in 1820 Conewago Twp, Adams Co PA: 100010/20100, next door to John Vance: 201120/20010, who could be her brother. Or was he Jacob Stonesifer in Westminster Twp, Frederick Co MD: 001201/00101?

i. Rebecca Stonesifer

ii. Edward F Stonesifer

iii. Ann Maria Stonesifer

iv. John George Stonesifer

v. Isaac David Wentz Stonesifer

vi. Eliza Stonesifer

vii. Emanuel Stonesifer

viii. Francis Jacob Stonesifer

ix. Michael Stonesifer

x. Agnes Margaret Stonesifer

xi. Calvin Zwinglius Stonesifer

xii. Susan Amelia Stonesifer (never married)

x. Lydia WENTZ. Born on 26 May 1801. Lydia died on 26 Sep 1876. Christened in St Matthew’s Church, York Co PA. On 31 Oct 1819 when Lydia was 18, she married John BANGE Jr. Born on 26 Oct 1786. John died on 24 Oct 1837. They were probably in 1820 Heidelberg Twp, York Co PA: 110011/00110. They had the following children:

[3] From Donna Yake, 26 Feb 1987, to Kathy Patterson: “I strongly suspect that Catherine Eyster, wife of Jacob, was a Wentz, but at this point I have no proof. Some work has been done in this area on the Wentz family but not on the particular family that I believe Catherine may have belonged. There are problems too in that Jacob Eyster was apparently born and raised about 25 miles from whre he eventually settled and raised his family. This involves a change in county and a change from a rather well-populated area to one that was just being settled. I don’t know if he married before or after this move was made but likely the marriage occured prior to his moving. If Catherine was a Wentz, I know this family in the mid-1800’s belonged to the United Brethren church whereas the Eyster family was largely Lutheran.”

From Donna Yake, 1 Feb 1988, to Kathy Patterson: “I have good reason to suspect that Catherine’s family was from the Hanover [York Co PA] area and that Jacob and Catherine were married in Hanover. I may have told you that all information seems to indicate that Catherine was a Wentz and was the daughter of Frederick and Anna Maria (____) Wentz.”

From Donna Yake, 14 Mar 1997, to Kathy Patterson: “Catherine Eyster’s parents…. I think I know who they were…. My best candidates are John Frederick Wentz Jr and wife Anna Maria Magdalena (_____) for the following reasons:

1) J. Frederick’s son, also Frederick, had Jacob Oyster and wf. Catherine as sponsors for their second child. The Wentz grandparent sponsored the first.

2) Frederick and Anna Maria Wentz were sponsors for Anna Maria, daughter of Jacob and Catherine.

3) Frederick and Anna Maria’s daughter, Lydia, married John Bange. They had a son whom they named George “Wenss” Bange. strongly suspect that my g-g-grandfather’s name was Samuel Wentz Eyster, but again I have no proof.

4) John and Lydia Bange were sponsors for Eliza, the fourth child of Jacob and Catherine.

There may be other sponsor situations among Catherine’s supposed brothers and sisters; they are just the ones I’ve stumbled across.”